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Keren Ann was a busy bee in the past years, producing songs for films and tributes, writing an opera, but most of all, being a mom. But now the time has come to start working on a new album. You and I can be a part of that album, via this Pledge Music crowdfunding campaign. You can either pre-order a digital copy of the new album for 10 euros, buy the vest she wore on the cover of her La Disparition album for 625 euros or have her come to your house to play for 10,000 euros. I think 42 euros for a vinyl album plus download is pretty steep, but encouragement of KA is always money well spent.

A new album’s coming up by one of the most gorgeous neo-yeye chanteuses, Vanessa Contenay-Quinones. The first single is a winner: fuzz guitars, tambourines, phat drums and that husky voice of V. Listen:

So, Buzzfeed published a list (duh) lining up 50 French Songs You Need To Hear Before You Die (HERE). I agree with it to some extent; if you haven’t heard Brel’s Ne me quitte pas or Trenet’s La Mer, you really need some catching up. But Ophélie Winter? For Me…Formidable by Aznavour? Mireille Mathieu?! I think we can do better. So I’ve made a collaborative Spotify list, 50 French Songs You Need To Hear – The Alternative. You can add as well. If you don’t have Spotify, drop suggestions in the comments. Biolay, Dominique A, Frehel, Gillian Hills, Niagara, Air… please add!

To end our series of Françoise Hardy-posts, to mark her 70th birthday, here’s a cover of Mon Amie La Rose, especially recorded for this blog by the charming Marianne Dissard. She translated the song herself, it’s Matt Mitchell on guitar and Pascal Parisot engineered. By the way, Marianne’s brand new album is highly recommended!

Le Soldat Rose was a musical fairytale by M(athieu Chedid) and his dad, for the follow-up Thomas Dutronc took the reigns and signed up Nolwenn Leroy, Elodie Frégé and Camelia Jordana, among others. See more here (in French), above is the first video for the project.

»It’s the whim of a spoiled kid.« French writer Frédéric Beigbeder (»Mémoires d’un jeune homme dérangé«, »99 francs«) is editorial director of the freshly relaunched LUI, the unmistakably Parisian pendant to Playboy and »Le magazine de l’homme moderne«, as it was called way back in the 60s to 80s. Then, they had Romy Schneider, Mireille Darc, Sylvia Kristel or Jane Birkin. Now, the brand new first volume of the mag, offered for the dumping price of 2,90 Euros, features actress Léa Seydoux, along with a lot of worthwhile reading. And Beigbeder has a new byname you’ve already guessed: L’homme qui amait des femmes.